Question for anyone owning a Jet Drill Press

[Dick Snyder]

I bought a Jet JDP-15M drill press last year. It has been working fine but I had the occasion to want to drill at an angle. I have tried everything to tilt the table but I can not get the bolt to budge. My manual says to losen the set screw and then use a 15/16" socket to losen the hex cap screw. Mine doesn't have a set screw - it has a screw with a nut on it. I called customer service and they told me to tighten the nut to draw the threaded screw out and I have done that. I still can't budge the hex cap screw. Before I put a pipe on the handle of my socket wrench to get more leverage (and take the risk of doing damage) I thought I would ask on the group to see what others have found.

TIA.

Dick Snyder

[Duane Bozarth]

...regarding tilting drill press table--can't loosen clamp bolt...

Don't have the same press to be able to provide a specific, but will conjecture some generalities...

It isn't a left-hand thread by chance?

Is the locking nut against the casting, I presume? If so, tightening it will simply add more pressure to the cap screw...back it off first, then try it.

Use some penetrating oil to help in case it's a case of corrosion/dry.

May have been inserted and locked down while paint was still wet/damp. If so, a heat on the casting will help, but be gentle.

Once you know you're going the right direction, an impact driver will do wonders, even a hand drill w/ a socket adapter. Amazing what a few impacts will do. Lacking a power impact tool of some sort, a few sharp raps on the end of the bolt w/ a hammer can serve the same purpose.

Hope those a few additional ideas...

[Dick Snyder]

Well, whacking the hex cap screw with a hammer did the job of breaking it free. Thanks.

I have a second problem which I won't ask for help with yet. The set screw does not want to come out of its hole no matter what. That is preventing any movement of the table even if I totally remove the hex cap screw. I have to fiddle with this for awhile - I'm sure I'll get the set screw loose somehow.

Thanks again.

Dick Snyder

[Duane Bozarth]

OK, I know you didn't ask but it's cold out here and I'm waiting for the well service guy to come back and fix what he left as a half-done job the last time so I'm bored... :)

Anyway, I'm now cornfuseld fo' sure! :)

First you said your press didn't have a set screw, now it's the hang up? :)

Can you describe how the clamp is actually made?

Set screws are/can be a pita on new equipment...the combination of wet paint, over-torqueing w/ power drives, sorry-axx Chinese steel, etc., is sometimes near lethal. W/O knowing more I can't say more than be careful to not strip the sucker out...then it's get out the drill and left-hand bits time.... :(

Make darn sure you have the right key--if it's metric, for example, don't try to get by w/ the nearest SAE fit--that's a certain disaster.

Many of the previous tricks are of some value, particularly heat and penetrating fluid...

Good luck.

[Knothead]

I've got that dp. That is not a set screw it is actually a pin you are forced to take out to tilt the table You will need to one of the two following to get it to work. When your done leave it out...

1) The nut on the stud actually comes off leaving the stud in place like it was designed. Take the table off . It will come straight up after loosening the clamp lever. Then take the 15/16" bolt completely off and slide the entire tilting bed off of the column clamp. Then just vice grip that stud offn there and throw it in the rotary disposal bin. Reinstall the tilting mech and table and your ready.

or (What I had to do)

2) There was a nyloc nut on the stud and the entire stud backed out instead of the nut so you have to back out the 15/16" bolt some then the stud then back to the bolt then the stud again in progression till the whole mess comes off the you can toss the stud reassemble the table and you are ready to go.

[Dick Snyder]

Sorry to be confusing. I managed to get the big bolt out by whacking it a few times with a hammer. Then I found that the set screw (which is really a bolt with a nut on one end - their manual calls it a set screw) was stuck. Since I made that posting I got the set screw out. It is really a screw with half its length with threads (for the nut) and the other half of its length being smooth to fit into a mating hole. I think it's only purpose is to make sure the table doesn't move when it is set for 0 degrees. At any other setting, it has no purpose (despite what the manual says).

The reason I had so much trouble getting it out is that the smooth part is a VERY tight fit into the mating hole. I have to either enlarge the hole very slightly or trim the smooth part of the screw a bit. I am not a mechanical engineer but I do have some common sense and this is a VERY crappy design as if they assumed no one would ever want to tilt the table to drill an angled hole.

Dick Snyder

[Dick Snyder]

Thank you. I had planned to work with the stud to make it fit better into the hole but your advice is a LOT more simple - ditch it!

[Tom]

That's right. At any other

Also correct. >The reason I had so much trouble getting it out is that the smooth part is a

Mine (a 17-incher) has the same set-up. Wrenching the nut _in_ extracts the pin. When resetting to 90, I turn the nut back on the pin, then tap it all in with a mallet. You could CAREFULLY use a bit of emery cloth to clean up the pin. You don't want any play, of course. Go slow, then a bit of grease to keep down any corrosion. HTH. Tom

Work at your leisure!

[Roger Shoaf]

Before you ditch it, you might want to measure it to make a longer pin that you could just slip in to the slot, then tighten the table. This way it will be easy to always get your table back to square.

[Dick Snyder]

Good idea. I can use my new digital calipers that I got for Christmas to get a good measurement.

Thanks.